ICANN Issues Timeline for New gTLD Program

Nov.03.2010

The ICANN Board of Directors has issued a timeline for the implementation of the New gTLD Program, which, if all goes according to plan, envisions the filing of the first applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) as early as May 30, 2011 - an earlier date than most expected. According to the timeline, the proposed final Applicant Guide Book ("AGB") will be published on November 9, 2010 and will be finalized at the regular meeting of the ICANN Board in December. ICANN then plans to conduct a four-month communication campaign leading up to the proposed May 30th commencement of the window of opportunity for submitting applications for new gTLDs. While ICANN's timeline may prove to be overly optimistic, as there is significant potential for delay, it appears to be a further indication of ICANN's commitment to the New gTLD Program and its intention to liberalize the gTLD name space sometime next year.